When planning a marketing strategy, businesses are often faced with choosing between lead generation or building brand awareness. Both approaches are essential for long-term success. Striking a balance between the two allows you to maximize your impact and build both short-term results and long-term growth.
The goal of lead-generating campaigns is to attract a pool of prospects who are likely interested in your product or service and who can be nurtured through the sales funnel. These marketing strategies focus on capturing potential customers’ information to engage them directly.
Examples of tactics that help to collect contact details, which can then be passed on to sales, include offering free newsletter subscriptions, providing downloadable content such as e-zines and white papers, or using targeted email marketing and hosting webinars. These methods often require users to submit their contact information, making it easier for sales teams to follow up.
Brand awareness strategies, by contrast, focus on getting your company’s name and message out into the world. These campaigns are designed to build trust and familiarity with your brand, so that when someone needs a service or product you offer, your business is top of mind.
Examples of these tactics include increasing your social media presence, running print and run-of-site (ROS) advertising, and sponsoring online content to boost visibility and recognition.
It’s important to run lead-generating tactics in tandem with brand awareness campaigns because they enhance each other’s effectiveness.
Lead generation strengthens your brand awareness efforts by giving them a tangible outcome—your increased visibility translates into actionable prospects. New prospects are more likely to trust a brand that they’ve seen consistently over time, making them more inclined to engage with your lead generation content when they encounter it.
Brand awareness campaigns benefit from lead-generation tactics as well. Focusing solely on brand awareness without a way to capture leads can make it difficult to grow your business, so pairing these strategies helps balance your company’s sales funnel.
Building brand awareness draws people to the top of the sales funnel, while lead-generating tactics guide them toward becoming customers. Together, these approaches create a seamless customer journey from first encounter to conversion.
Thought leadership is a particularly effective way to leverage both brand awareness and lead-generation strategies. By providing expert knowledge and guidance on a topic, you position your brand as an authority in your industry. How you share that expertise can directly contribute to generating high-quality leads.
Content like in-depth advertorials, native articles, and e-zines not only boost brand credibility but they also create ample opportunities for lead generation. By showcasing your company’s expertise in these formats, you can become a go-to resource in your industry, increasing the likelihood that leads will convert into long-term customers.
In B2B marketing, lead generation and brand awareness are two sides of the same coin. A successful marketing strategy requires both, ensuring a steady flow of prospects while building trust in your brand—ultimately positioning your company for long-term growth. Speak with a Sosland Publishing media expert today to maximize the impact of your next campaign.